Observations from Day 2 of rookie camp

One day after reporting on the progress of overweight Max Jean-Gilles and his recent lap-band surgery, we present the enviable position of King Dunlap, who spent the offseason stuffing his face between trips to the weight room in an effort to add some bulk to his 6-9 frame.

All arms and legs when the Eagles drafted him in the seventh round out of Auburn in 2008, he spent his entire first season on injured reserve. Last season, still not at his desired weight of 330 pounds, he played sparingly, most notably in a loss at Oakland when left tackle Jason Peters was injured and Todd Herremans was still not ready to return from a preseason injury.

"I know I could have played a lot better than I did," Dunlap said, "so in the offseason I've been working hard, putting on weight. ... Being as tall as I am, I knew I needed to be at least 315, 320. So I went home, came back, and when we started workouts, I was 330."

Dunlap played at 305 last year.

"I feel a whole lot stronger," he said. "Last year I was getting tossed around a little bit in the first camp. This year I feel pretty good, the legs feel good, I really feel nice and strong in the upper body. The weight's definitely helped.

"The way I put on this weight I better watch out. I might be on the maintain list if I keep at this rate. So I've calmed down from eating everything in sight and kind of watching what I eat now, because I don't want to be too heavy for training camp."

Another positive sight today: second-year tight end Cornelius Ingram finally moving the way he did when he played for the University of Florida from 2005 through 2008. He spent all of his rookie season last year on IR after re-injuring the same knee that sidelined him as a senior.

He's only 6-4, 245 -- not particularly big for a tight end. But he looks a lot bigger when he gets a full head of steam. When they start him in motion like they did in a handful of plays today, he looks like a monster turning the corner at full speed as the ball is snapped.

It seemed as if all of the players were asking a lot of questions and we found out that it was because the Patriot rookies didn't receive a playbook until Thursday night, on the eve of their first practice.

I like it. Far too many goalies are trying to fit 30 ideas on their head. This is simple and stylish,I could have sworn the 4 and 1 were on opposite sides of the skull. Super good chance I was wrong, though.

All 26 players invited to minicamp attended practice that day. They include all 12 of the players that the Patriots drafted, nine free agent rookie signees, and five players invited to try out and make the team.

The guy was as good a Bess when they played together in college and the only thing that kept him from sticking with an NFL team as an undrafted free agent in 2008 was a leg injury that he suffered in training camp that year.